Frost Bite
by BigBangTrekkie
Summary: Kirk goes to rescue survivors on a planet whose temperature is rapidly decreasing and is marooned there for some time.


**I do not own Star Trek but I love it dearly. Enjoy.**

Jim suited up for their latest objective: find and collect the last two surviving members of the dying species, the Baridi. Their planet had rapidly declined in temperature and the species had been unable to adapt itself.

Because Spock had been accustomed to a warmer climate on Vulcan and believed that even Earth's room temperature was cold, Sulu was selected to accompany Jim to the planet. Timing was imperative because a storm was approaching.

Jim pressed the wall communicator. "Medical, standby in the transporter room and prepare to treat the survivors. As Jim was walking to the transporter room he met up with McCoy and they walked in together. Spock walked up to Jim to get that all his gear was properly working while Scotty was helping Sulu.

Jim and Sulu took their places in the transporter and were beamed down. As soon as they reached the planet, a gust of wind nearly blew them over so they crouched down and sprinted across the snow.

Reaching the location of the survivors proved to be simple with the help of Chekov back on the ship however finding a sufficient location to beam up was challenging. The strong winds and the snow that started to fall disrupted the scan of the transporter.

Finally, Scotty had a lock on their location and began beaming them up when another gust of wind, much stronger than the last, unbalanced them. Sulu and the survivor reacted quickly to regain their balance however Jim had not been so lucky. He was blown a few feet back into a snow back and was lost by the transporter.

The rest beamed up and the survivors were taken to sickbay with frost bite, while Jim remained below.

His communicator went off, "Jim, can you hear me? Are you alright?"

"I hear you and I'm fine. The wind knocked me over. Can you bring me up now?"

The next message came through static. "I can't find you anymore and the storm is here, but I'll keep trying. I'll just bring the ship closer. Don't worry."

"No. If you bring the ship closer, you'll risk getting caught in the storm. Let's wait it out. Kirk out."

This time it was McCoy that came over the communicator. "Jim, don't be stupid. We have to get you out of there. Even with the suit on you can only survive for a few hours."

"Don't bring that ship any closer to the storm. That's an order. McCoy, make sure none of those survivors die. As for me, I'll figure something out. You know I always do."

He stood up and made his way back to where the Baridi had stayed and found that a sheet of ice from the roof of the structure, closed off its entrance. _What luck?_ He thought. He then dug a hole in the snow, laid down inside it, and curled his body into a ball.

The cold began to seep through his suit and he started shivering. He listened to the monotonous sound of the storm overhead as the snow began to pile into his shelter. After lying there for an hour or so, he grew weary and began to drift off to sleep. He fought valiantly to remain awake but his weariness won out and he fell asleep.

Back up in the ship, Spock, McCoy, and Scotty waited in the transporter room. According to Spock, after about two hours and twenty-three minutes, the storm began to wither and Uhura tried contacting Jim again to no avail.

A rescue party consisting of Spock, McCoy and two redshirts went down to location of their last contact, while medics remained on standby. Spock, using a tricorder, was quickly able to locate Jim and together they lifted him out of the hole.

Jim's frozen body was transported to sickbay, assigned a biobed, and was treated by a full medical team headed by McCoy. Jim was revived by McCoy and his team, however was assigned to bed rest for a week.

Jim's first visitor was Spock. "Why did you attempt to wait out the storm? That was illogical." This initial reaction only caused Jim to smile. "Why are you showing signs of happiness? You nearly died. Is that not significant to you?"

Jim chuckled before he responded, "It does matter, but traditionally people don't scold people who almost died—"

McCoy came storming in and began ranting. "You are an _idiot_. How could you do something like that? Did you simply assume that I could bring you back from the dead? I'm a doctor, not Victor Frankenstein…." Spock raised an eyebrow in question.

"—unless you're McCoy, I suppose," Jim explained.

When McCoy realized Jim was no longer listening he finished, "And you are to take your meds without further question. I'm sick of dealing with your constant childish behavior!" He raged out of the room.

"McCoy had been very…perturbed throughout the duration of the storm and preceded to obsessively pace in the transporter room. I fully understand his reaction to your decision. You must understand that you are not the only one who cares about your well-being." Jim had a feeling that he was no longer talking about McCoy.

"Well, yeah, who are you going to play chess with when I'm gone? Speaking of chess, want to play a game or two?"

"I believe McCoy's prescribed you bed rest in addition to several pills and I would never want to be on the receiving end of one of his tirades."

"I am, in fact, in a bed and my feet are resting so I believe I am following his instructions."

Spock considered this for a moment and nodded before he left to grab the chessboard.

When he returned, he found Jim slumped over asleep in the bed. He put the chessboard down to carefully fix Jim's position in bed. Once he was satisfied he said softly, "Good night, T'hy'la," held up his hand in the traditional greeting and left the room with the chessboard.


End file.
